I think it is also a case of lack of any spare land that could accommodate the size of a reasonable stadium in London. All the stadiums that are currently in place are used and owned by football clubs/Councils or Harlequins. The is no real room for a club "in" London to thrive, own their own ground and not be crippled by rent and the cost of land in London. It is such a built up area that any spare space is snapped up in no time and built on with flats or offices. I think the lack of a "Home" base that clubs can build on is a real issue - no matter how much marketing you carry out - if you don't have a base and that security, then you'll always be moving about.

That is why Wasps have moved about in RU and in order to get that security had to leave London and head north. London Welsh are the same.

London's RL team have no choice but to shack up with football clubs and play second fiddle or to move out of London - neither give them a secure future in London.

Many other reasons are in place that act as barriers to London having a proper RL team that can suit the overall population of the city.... yes, football sadly always comes first... but it doesn't mean there isn't an appetite for a London club.... just lack of options as to where they can base themselves for a long term future.

Hopefully they can settle in Barnet (not where I'd prefer them - but that's just a selfish opinion being based in SW London)... But I just hope they can get that security off field to build on it. Only time will tell.

long chat with bentfords chairman last night......lionel road is a few years away yet.

Have either code ever looked at East London? What about Leyton Orient? 10000 capacity stadium, I assume it's an untouched area for rugby, "The Orient RLFC"?, East London's rugby club for lads looking for a tougher sport than association football...

Was discussing this with my Dad last night, and if you think about it only international sport outside of football has a chance of being profitable.

At club level in rugby union, cricket, rugby league, basketball, ice hockey the monies earned to sustain a professional club just aren't there. Whether that's interest from the local communities, which are now much more multi-cultural than 30-40 years ago, or resident's finances with Greater London are tighter than in the past, I personally think there are several socio-economic issues as to why the majority of professional sport struggles inside London.

With the plethora of alternative entertainment in London, whatever you do has to be a quality product that looks after it's customer base, London Broncos for the best part of the last ten years have failed in that! Its that simple.

Even if we had our own stadium (or at least a BASE) we'd still struggle because the quality wasn't there or what was there quickly diminished and those disolussioned with the it are NOT going to come running back any time soon.

We've played a couple of games at Orient (one of which, given your user name, I'm sure you'd like to remind us of). It's a tidy little ground but the pitch is just too short, even compared to Brentford or The Hive. The proximity of housing all around means it's unlikely to get any longer any time soon.


To be honest you can narrow it down from that, there are only a handful of football clubs who are truly solvent, even with the new financial rules.